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Air Forge (Soul Reaver 2)
Soul Reaver 2 (2001) |architects = • The ancient vampires |ownership = • The ancient vampires |status = Intact |features = • |inhabitants = • Swordsmen thralls, Sorcerer thralls, Greater thralls |items = • Red heart, Blue heart, Green heart, Air Forge axes, the Air Reaver |appearances = }} The Air Forge was an elemental Reaver forge encountered by Raziel in Soul Reaver 2. Created by the Ancient vampires, the forge was located to the west of Janos Audron's Retreat in Nosgoth's northern mountains and was the third forge encountered by Raziel in the game, discovered after meeting with Kain outside the ruined aerie in the Post-Blood Omen era. Completing the puzzle of the forge, Raziel was able to imbue the Wraith Blade with elemental Air, creating the Air Reaver. Role SR2-AirForge-Entry1.PNG SR2-AirForge-Entry2.PNG SR2-AirForge-Entry3.PNG SR2-AirForge-Entry4.PNG SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-01.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-02.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-03.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-04.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-05.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-06.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-07.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-08.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-09.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-10.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-11.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-12.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-13.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-14.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Mural-15.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-01.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-02.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-03.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-04.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-05.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-06.png SR2-AirForge-Entry-Light-07.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-01.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-02.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-03.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-04.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-05.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-06.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-07.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-08.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-09.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-10.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Entry-11.png The Air Forge was a playable location in Soul Reaver 2, indicated as one of the main areas on the World map - shown as encompassing an area in the northeast of Nosgoth west of Janos Audron's Retreat, The Forge was the third of the ancient elemental forges found by Raziel in Soul Reaver 2, being discovered in the Post-Blood Omen era in Chapter 5: A Fateful Meeting and explored soon after in Chapter 6: The Air Forge. Soul Reaver 2 - Map of Nosgoth at Nosgothic Realm (by Tenaya) Soul Reaver 2 - Map of Nosgoth at Dark Chronicle (by Marie Walter) The (almost) definitive Legacy of Kain maps thread at the Eidos Forums (by Shrykull/Bazielim) After solving the Dark, Light forges , Raziel had attempted to coerce Moebius to send him into Nosgoth's early history using the one of Sarafan Stronghold's Time-streaming chambers, but had instead been sent to the demon-infested Post-Blood Omen era. Exploring Nosgoth's northern mountains in this era, Raziel passed through Uschtenheim and discovered the ruins of Janos Audron's Retreat. After a cautious meeting with Kain, Raziel discovered a passage leading westwards away from the retreat and up to the facade of the Air Forge in Chapter 5: A Fateful Meeting. 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Progressing further into the forge Raziel was able to reach the main 'core' chamber of the forge - a large circular room with an apparently open roof to the night sky, two large panther-like animal heads and a deep circular pit with a large open-mouthed snake at its center. The core pit had three openings half-way down and at the bottom of the core three color-coded passages led to three largely identical chambers, each containing a large colored stone head and a sacrificial altar with a mummy tied to it missing a heart. The main objective of the Air forge was to return the Red heart, Blue heart and Green heart to their respective sacrificial mummy. This was achieved in several stages, with Raziel using the Wraith Blade, Light Reaver and Dark Reaver to unlock Sealed doors and paths to puzzle rooms which each eventually led upto a chamber where Raziel could recover the appropriate heart. When each heart was returned, the mummy was restored and the stone head briefly became animate, consuming the soul of the mummy and exhaling an updraft of Air which powered the forge and allowed Raziel to glide up to the top of the core. At the top of the forge, Raziel could use Light and Dark Reaver bolts on the respective symbols in the open mouths of the panthers, activating the main forge altar in the mouth of the snake. Imbuing the Wraith Blade with the elemental Air therein created the Air Reaver and activating all Air-affiliated Reaver fonts. 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SR2-AirForge-Exit-Cracked21.png SR2-AirForge-Exit1.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit2.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit3.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit4.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit5.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit6.PNG SR2-AirForge-Exit7.PNG As Raziel left the forge he discovered that Reaver bolts from the Air Reaver could destroy cracked barriers and he was ultimately able to use this ability to breach the cracked door of the time streaming chamber in the Swamp and use it to reach Nosgoth's early history. Design and Layout Like the other elemental forges, The Air Forge is illustrated on the World map simply as a Air symbol and no effort is made to outline its area. The forge appears to be high up in Nosgoth's northern mountains, west of the Lake of Lost Souls, Janos Audron's Retreat and the Fire forge and northwest of Uschtenheim. Many of the features around the retreat areas are also slightly inconsistent when compared to the in-game layout. The world map depicts a canyon heading north out of Uschtenheim which forks with branches heading north-east to the retreat and north-west to the Air forge, with the air forge passage way only vaguely matching the position and orientation of the in game layout. The external lake area south of the retreat, where the split occurs in-game, is not present on the map though a similar small lake (apparently fed from the Lake of Lost Souls) is positioned slightly north of the split and west of the area marked as Janos's retreat on maps, while to the north-west of this lake a mountain can be observed flanked by the marked areas for the Janos retreat and the Fire forge (to the south and north respectively) - The directional clash may be explained by the possibility that Raziel climbed above the canyon and fork depicted on the map in the area beyond Uschtenheim and continued north through the area in uncharted paths. Because of clashes in the in-game layouts in the between the areas north of Uschtenehim depicted in Blood Omen and Soul Reaver 2, the location of the Air forge in relation to Blood Omen locations remains unclear - though it would appear to be located somewhere either north of the lower sections of the Ruined Land, or north of the Long and Winding Road areas. The map also continues to list Raziel as in the Uschtenheim area until he enters the Air Forge or Janos retreat. In terms of in-game layout, the Air forge was located to the west of Janos Audron's Retreat and was accessed from an opening in the west wall of the lake area outside the retreat in the Post-Blood Omen era. The opening led through rocky passage curving northward up two sets of Scalable walls to a heavily eroded 'mini aerie' platform containing a Dark Reaver font, from here the passage turned west and widened to reveal the facade on the air forge - a large red patterned step-pyramid-like construction bricked terraced structure at the end of the canyon. The two brick terraced platforms each contained two metal standing torches and could be ascended using a small central staircase leading up to a checkpoint and the main forge entrance; flanked by images of the Reaver and topped with and Air symbol, but protected by a sealed door and a Sentry eye above the top of the arched doorway. SR2-JanosRetreat-Exterior-Lake-Side-EraB-Material.PNG|Air forge entry passage (right) at the exterior of Janos'a Retreat SR2-JanosRetreat-Exterior-Lake-Side-EraB-Spectral.PNG SR2-Mountains-Janos9-Air-Material.png|passages leading to the Air Forge SR2-Mountains-Janos9-Air-Spectral.png SR2-AirForge-Facade-Material.PNG|Air Forge Facade SR2-AirForge-Facade-Spectral.PNG Heading through the doorway into the forge led up a small staircase to the west and opened out into a large double-tiered square shaped chamber with 'stepped' walls and decorated with several Air symbols, which acted as the lobby of the building. At the far (west) end of the room another section of the forge was present, with several Ancient runes and murals describing the events Before Nosgoth's recorded history (specifically the infliction of the Blood curse on the Ancient vampires) positioned on slightly raised platforms in the northwest and southwest corners of the room. At the east of the room where Raziel entered, several pillar constructions held up the mezzanine-like second level and at the northeast and southeast corners staircases led up to where the second level platform led across the center of the room east-west. Along the east wall of the second level of the chamber, a straight balcony connected two Light Reaver fonts in the northeast and southeast corners. Across the mezzanine level to the west, the platform contained several Light related symbols - including a traditional light symbol, a ray of light and a small sundial-like construction at the west of the platform - beyond this the platform finished, but an isolated balcony was reachable on the west wall of the chamber, where a Light marked arched doorway was sealed shut. Standing upon the light symbol and firing a Light Reaver bolt along the 'ray' to the 'sundial' projected light rays in the shape of the symbol onto the sealed door behind, causing it to break down into gated barrier which could be phased through. SR2-AirForge-Air1-Front-Material.PNG|Air Forge Entrance Chamber SR2-AirForge-Air1-Front-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air1-Back-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air1-Back-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-EntranceWay.png SR2-AirForge-Air2-End-Material.PNG|Top forge entry corridor SR2-AirForge-Air2-End-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Dragons-Crystals.png SR2-AirForge-WingedReaverMural.png SR2-AirForge-Air2-Start-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air2-Start-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Door.png Beyond the doorway, the passage headed west for a small distance down a modest staircase flanked by Reaver murals, crystals and two low dragon-like animal depictions; and stopped at a another mural depicting a winged ancient vampire apparently armed with the Reaver blade, flanked by depictions of the Reaver and two (inactive) Air Reaver fonts. From here the passage turned into a straight wide corridor heading north for a distance (with two Air Forge axes positioned at the south end of the corridor) and reaching a checkpoint at the point where the corridor again turned west. The passage then led through a small arched doorway to an enclosed square chamber with an open roof and a much larger (closed) arched doorway decorated with several wind-like symbols, an Air symbol and a large hole above it, and an air emblem symbol at the bottom of the doorway. Completing a battle with two Swordsmen thralls and a Greater thrall in this chamber, Raziel was able to gain the emblem key and unlock the large arched doorway, causing the blocks covering the doorway to slide apart, allowing Raziel access to the main forge chamber. SR2-AirForge-Air20-MainRoom-Material.PNG|Main top room SR2-AirForge-Air20-MainRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Main-Wide.png SR2-AirForge-Wind&Stars.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air20-Core-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air20-Core-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air20-Core-GreenReaver&Light.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air20-Core-Blue&Dark.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air20-Core-RedLight&NoFont.PNG SR2-AirForge-HeartAltarCurve-Pipes.png SR2-AirForge-Air18-BlueFaceRoom-Material.PNG|Blue Face room SR2-AirForge-Air18-BlueFaceRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-BlueFaceRoom.png SR2-AirForge-HeartAltarCurve-Pipes.png SR2-AirForge-Air16-RedFaceRoom-Material.PNG|Red Face room SR2-AirForge-Air16-RedFaceRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-RedFaceRoom.png SR2-AirForge-HeartAltarCurve-Pipes.png SR2-AirForge-Air14-GreenFaceRoom-Material.PNG|Green Face room SR2-AirForge-Air14-GreenFaceRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-GreenFaceRoom.png The main chamber was a vast circular courtyard-like space with an open roof, through which a cloudy and windy night sky could be seen. The walls around the room were decorated with murals depicting a two-faced vampire and several patterned symbols, and were topped with various step and spike arrangements, containing several face-like designs. Atop the walls in northwest and southwest were two large sculptures depicting panther heads with Dark and Light symbols respectively within their mouths. The large arched doorway and hole entrance was in the east of the room along with an (inactive) Air plinth and a checkpoint. At the middle of the chamber was a deep circular 'core', which descended further down into the forge and at its center was a large pillar decorated with Ancient runes with a large snake coiled around it, rising to an open mouth at the top of the pillar with the forge altar inside. The walls of the core were decorated with various pattern, rune, face and Shifting symbols, with the shift symbols extending to form 'steps' back up to the top of the forge in the Spectral Realm. At the bottom of the core it was divided into nine sections. The openings in the south, northwest and east-northeast contained modest alcoves backed by rune symbols and flanked by Reaver depictions, with the alcoves containing a portal, a dark and a light reaver font respectively. The openings in the north, east-southeast and southwest contained passages leading down to the green, red and blue heart altars respectively and each opening was flanked by crystals of the appropriate color. Each of these passages had pipe-like features on the walls and led down in a wide curving arc clockwise to the rounded heart altar rooms back beneath the center of the forge - each heart altar chamber had piping and step formations along the walls, decorated with runes and other patterns symbols, and a stepped altar decorated with an air symbol and two braziers was placed at the far end of the chamber, complete with a writhing and heartless mummy tied atop it before a large stone head on the far wall, which had fanged teeth, a looped headdress, and eyes and a crystal on its forehead glowing the color of the respective altar. The final three sections of the core in the north-northeast, south-southeast and west, contained Scalable walls decorated with symbols of the Reaver, Light and Dark respectively. Each led up to arched Sealed doors mid-way down the core which were locked with the respective element (the Material Reaver is used in the case of the Reaver symbol) which led onto 'puzzle wings' where the colored hearts could be recovered. Each sealed doorway led into rectangular chamber extending to the left of the sealed door, with several Air Forge axes and runes decorating the walls along with small steps in places (and an inaccessible apparently ruined wing of the air forge in the dark path chamber). At the opposite corner of the chamber another arched sealed door was locked with an emblem key gained from a Greater thrall (and its swordsmen allies) directly in front of the door. Once breached, these led into three distinct 'puzzle rooms': SR2-AirForge-Air21-ReaverPathEnt-Material.PNG|Reaver path entrance SR2-AirForge-Air21-ReaverPathEnt-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-ReaverPath-Material.PNG|Reaver path emblem key room SR2-AirForge-ReaverPath-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom-Material.PNG|Reaver path end room SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom2-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom2-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-BlueHeartBigRoom.png SR2-AirForge-Air11-ReaverRoom-LitMural.PNG SR2-AirForge-BlueHeart-Mural.png SR2-AirForge-BlueFaceRoomActivated.png SR2-AirForge-Air18-BlueFaceRoom-Activated-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air18-BlueFaceRoom-Activated-Spectral.PNG *The largest of these was the Reaver path room northeast of the main core, a large square shaped courtyard with an open roof. The chamber was dominated by two large pyramid-like constructions with inverted pyramids atop them, positioned along the northeast and southwest walls of the chamber; with Raziel entering the courtyard from a passageway beneath the southwest construction and with high openings visible in both. Covered arcade walkways flanked the northwest and southeast walls with several pillars along them with the central pillars on both sides bearing the Shift icon - these extended into platforms in the Spectral Realm, allowing the second tier balconies above to be reached. Both the balconies featured prominent face sculptures in the center, controlling the flow of Air across the chamber and both contained Reaver fonts at the far (northeast) end. Both balconies led into the southwest structure at the other end rising up a set of stairs, passing a Sentry eye in the northwest balcony and a Light Sealed door in the southeast balcony, and meeting behind a passage leading out to a shadow bridge point in the high opening in the southwest structure. Once the puzzle had been completed this could be used to cross between the high openings on the two pyramid structures, leading to a small darkened room in the top of the northeast structure containing a prominent mural depicting a sacrifice and the heartless mummy before the blue head, with a Light Crystal positioned in its forehead, and by activating this Raziel could gain the Blue heart. SR2-AirForge-Air4-DarkPathEnt-Material.PNG|Dark path entrance SR2-AirForge-Air4-DarkPathEnt-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-DarkPath-Material.PNG|Dark path emblem key room SR2-AirForge-DarkPath-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air8-DarkRoom-Material.PNG|Dark path end room SR2-AirForge-Air8-DarkRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-RedHeart-BigRoom.png SR2-AirForge-Air8-DarkRoom-LitMural.PNG SR2-AirForge-RedHeart-Mural-Light.png SR2-AirForge-RedFaceRoom-Activated.png SR2-AirForge-Air16-RedFaceRoom-Activated-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air16-RedFaceRoom-Activated-Spectral.PNG *The dark path puzzle room in the west was a much more modest rectangular room with an open roof, dominated by two towers in the west and the east (with Raziel entering by an opening beneath the eastern tower) and a decorated two-tiered archway in the center, effectively dividing the room into two courtyards. The western courtyard had a sentry eye protecting the archway and opposite a slightly raised dark sealed door led into a small room containing a light reaver font. A small alcove in the north of the courtyard contained a dark reaver font, whilst the southern alcove opposite led upto a Shadow bridge heading north across the chamber to a block stuck in the northern wall. Above the eastern tower was positioned a face which expelled an air current across the top of the room towards a high opening in the western tower where Raziel could gain the Red heart in front of a another sacrifice mural, this one depicting the red stone head. SR2-AirForge-Air22-LightPathEnt-Material.PNG|Light path entrance SR2-AirForge-Air22-LightPathEnt-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-LightPath-Material.PNG|Light path emblem key room SR2-AirForge-LightPath-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air6-LightRoom-Material.PNG|Light path end room SR2-AirForge-Air6-LightRoom-Spectral.PNG SR2-AirForge-GreenHeart-BigRoom.png SR2-AirForge-Air6-LightRoom-LitMural.PNG SR2-AirForge-GreenHeart-Mural.png SR2-AirForge-GreenFaceRoom-Activated.png SR2-AirForge-Air14-GreenFaceRoom-Activated-Material.PNG SR2-AirForge-Air14-GreenFaceRoom-Activated-Spectral.PNG *The final Light path puzzle chamber in the southeast was a wider and more open chamber, with towers in the southeast and northwest (with Raziel entering beneath the northwest tower), each with second tier platforms around them which could be climbed to from the courtyard floor. The second tier platforms around the southeast tower contained a light reaver font and a shadow bridge leading across to the opposite (northwest) second tier platform where a dark reaver font could be found along with a simple archway which could be scaled. Another face sculpture in the top of the northwestern tower blew air across the top of the room toward the high opening in the southeastern tower where Raziel could gain the Green heart. Connections From the main core forge chamber ("Air20") *The top eastern door (and hole above it) leads through a Z-shaped corridor ("Air2") and entrance mural room ("Air1") to the exterior facade of the forge ("Janos9") and a passage ("Janos8") leading to the lake beneath Janos Audron's Retreat ("Janos7"). *the bottom northern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air13") to the green stone head chamber ("Air 14") *The bottom north-northeastern scaling wall leads up to a Reaver sealed door and a small chamber ("Air21") leading to the Blue heart puzzle room ("Air11") *the bottom east-southeastern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air15") to the red stone head chamber ("Air 16") *The bottom south-southeastern scaling wall leads up to a Light sealed door and a small chamber ("Air22") leading to the Green heart puzzle room ("Air6") *the bottom southwestern opening leads down a wide curving passage ("Air17") to the blue stone head chamber ("Air 18") *The bottom western scaling wall leads up to a Dark sealed door and a small chamber ("Air4") leading to the Red heart puzzle room ("Air8") Background SR2-Environment-AirForgeDesign1.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeDesign2.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeDesign3.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeDesign4.jpg Like the other Reaver forges of Soul Reaver 2, the air forge was based upon distinct architectural elements from real-world ancient temples Various art and plot questions at DCabDesign (by Dubiel), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) The Air Forge is inspired by the real-world architectural design of temples in pre-Columbian south and central America. Mayan, Inca and Aztec influences are often noted by fans and design documents specifically mention "Pre-Colombian Central-American iconography" and "Mayan motifs" (though some doorways were intended to have Hindu architectural features). The Air forge consequently has many design elements and features associated with Mesoamerican culture and architecture. These include: prominent step and pyramid designs, arched doorways, pictograph/hieroglyphic writing (Ancient runes), carved 'tenon' stone heads and skulls, oversize Stele carvings and apparent sacrificial practices - many of the design elements were inspired by, and in some cases directly copied from, real world Mesoamerican designs. The forge also features several associated animal designs: The feline heads atop the forge are identified as "Panthers" in the Prima guide, a term which can apply to lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and jaguars; and refers exclusively to the Jaguar in Central and South America - which was a symbol of power and strength in Mesoamerican cultures. Several snake and dragon-like depictions are seen throughout the forge (including several Ouroboros symbols), including a prominent serpent design coiled around the core pillar at the center of the forge (a design strikingly similar to Moebius's Staff) - this sculpture was originally intended to bear wings, perhaps referencing another mesoamerican deity, the Feathered serpent. Detailed documents relating to the design and implementation of the Air Forge were uncovered in Casto Vocal's portfolio by Divine Shadow in 2010, revealing that though the forge itself had maintained a largely consistent layout through development, several features had been changed drastically. Original plans include the main snake core having stained-glass and feathered wings and the items collected being weapons used to execute imprisoned vampires through different color-coded methods (incineration, decapitation and impalement). A similar puzzle would later feature in Vorador's Mansion in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, with Raziel collecting three weapons (the Heart Seeker, Blood Drinker and Soul Stealer) and using them to impale Hylden gargoyles to allow passage to the Water Forge. The Air Forge was also one of the first playable sections of Soul Reaver 2 completed - initially the area was finished for the cancelled Dreamcast version before the title was moved to the Playstation 2, Soul Reaver 2 for the Sega Dreamcast at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) SR2 Dreamcast version at DCabDesign (by Raina Audron), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) Soul Reaver 2 questions at DCabDesign (by Raina Audron), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) and on the newer platform the level would be released to the public as it was made available through a playable playstation 2 demo. Several features were changed between this and the retail version, with different enemies, combat HUD, Reaver effects and a strikingly different night sky above the forge with a much larger moon which is visibly altered by Spectral Realm effects. Early Versions of Soul Reaver 2 at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) The Air Forge Demo at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) Art Director Daniel Cabuco also elaborated further on the background and purpose of the Air Forge: Cabuco's comments revealed that the forge was conceived as a place where the Ancient vampires sacrificed their enemies (and later themselves) by feeding their souls to the Elder God; with the heads (and the unspecified deity referred to in the development documents) representing the Elder and the three hearts representing the lifeforms of Nosgoth - The Red heart (in the Dark chamber) represents flesh and the Material Realm, the Blue heart (in the neutral/material soul reaver chamber) represents Spectral entities and the Spectral Realm, and the Green heart (in the Light chamber) represents the Hylden and Demon Realm SR2 Air Forge and Defiance Forges at DCabDesign (by The Hylden), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco). Design documents suggest that this aspect was changed during development and in early designs the three items were weapons representative of execution methods. Much like Moebius's Staff, the large snake sculpture in the Air Forge was acknowledged to disable the hearts of Vampires, enabling them to be extracted. SR2 Air Forge and Defiance Forges at DCabDesign (by The Hylden), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco) Notes SR2-AirForge-Mural-Reaver.png SR2-AirForge-WingedReaverMural.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-Crystal.png SR2-AirForge-Markings-Crystal.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-PitMarkings.png SR2-AirForge-RuinedSection.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-TotemFace-Teeth.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-TotemFace-NoTeeth.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-TotemFaces-AirClosed.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-TotemFaces-AirOpen.png SR2-AirForge-BlowFace.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-TotemFaces.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-Skull.png SR2-Texture-AF-Skull.png SR2-AirForge-Door.png SR2-AirForge-Dragons-Crystals.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-LightHead.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-DarkHead.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Snake-Front.png SR2-AirForge-MainCore-Snake-Back.png *The ''"Air Forge" is named as such in Soul Reaver 2 stage directions and the Prima guide. Behind the scenes information gives the title "Air Reaver Forge".Soul Reaver 2 at Casto Vocal's portfolio Soul Reaver 2 - screenshots from cancelled PS1 release, internal Air Forge Design documents unearthed at Nosgothic Realm Forums (by Divine Shadow) Soul Reaver 2 - screenshots from cancelled PS1 release, Air Forge Design documents at the Eidos Forums (by Divine Shadow) Under Debug menus and game files the internal forge area is broken down into several chambers each listed under the main "Air" entry. The rooms are listed as: "Air1" - the entry mural room, "Air2" - the top corridor leading to the main forge chamber, "Air4" - the sealed door to the Dark path, "Air6" - the Green heart puzzle room (Light path), "Air8" - the Red heart puzzle room (Dark path), "Air11" - The Blue heart puzzle room (Reaver path), "Air13" - the the passage to the green face room, "Air14" - the green face room, "Air15" - the passage to the red face room, "Air16" - the red face room, "Air17" the passage to the blue face room, "Air18" - the blue face room, "Air20" - the main forge chamber, "Air21" - the sealed door entrance to the Reaver path and "Air22" - the sealed door entrance to the Light path. The areas only exist in one era, the Post-Blood Omen era. The external air forge facade and the passages leading to the exterior of Janos Audron's Retreat are counted under the wider "Janos" designation covering all non-forge areas north of the swamp where they are listed as "Janos9" and "Janos8" respectively - similarly these areas only appear in the Post-Blood Omen era and as such are only listed only under "JanosB". Game files also refer to the stone heads as "godheada", "godheadb" and "godheadc" for the red green and blue heads respectively, while the mummies are called "altrboy" in their initial state and "freshboy" when restored. *Though the Air forge had previously appeared in playable demos, Early Versions of Soul Reaver 2 at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) The Air Forge Demo at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln) Chapter 6: The Air Forge marks its formal introduction as a playable location, but the area cannot be visited before, or revisited after this time. The forge does not recur in later titles, though a different Air Forge is encountered within the Vampire Citadel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance. Once the air forge is completed, Raziel's Health coil increases capacity and all Air-attuned Reaver fonts become active - these will remain activated even in Nosgoth's early history *Like the earlier Dark and Light forges, the Air Forge features a unique weapon variant design that is found exclusively within that forge, in this case a primitive axe weapon. A unique application of the Light Reaver is also seen in the Air Forge, where Reaver bolts from the Light Reaver can be fired at a special "engraved stone" in the entrance chamber which is marked with the light symbol - this 'projects' the stone shape onto an area of the wall behind, decaying it into a gated barrier which could be phased through. Light and Dark Reaver bolts are additionally used to directly power power the Air forge by being fired at their respective symbols inside panther heads, without the need of Light crystals. *Several murals seen in the Air forge relate to significant events and concepts in the history of Nosgoth: **Repeated imagery throughout the forge depicts the Air symbol, relating to the elemental alignment of the forge. Reaver symbols are also prominent throughout, relating to the weapon it enhances. **The murals in the entrance room depict the infliction of the Blood curse on the Ancient vampires by the Hylden in the age Before Nosgoth's recorded history. The event had previously been hinted at in the murals in Subterranean Pillars Chamber and conversations with Kain in Chapter 2: Decision at the Pillars and Chapter 5: A Fateful Meeting. **Similarly a repeated mural features a vampire with two faces - one calm and the other rabid and fanged - presumably relating the blood-thirsty effects of the curse, though it may also relate to the apparent differing accounts of Janos Audron. **Ouroboros symbols are placed throughout the forge in textures and murals, foreshadowing Raziel's cyclic destiny observed in the Soul Reaver 2 Epilogue and later in Chapter 13: Return to the Guardian Citadel of Legacy of Kain: Defiance. **A mural depicting an Ancient vampire armed with the Reaver blade that resembles Raziel (and is highlighted as such in cutscenes) presumably relates to the prophetic figure of the Vampire champion, revealed later to be Raziel. **Several murals and features hint at a sacrificial history for the Air forge. Though not conclusively explained in game, background information would confirm that the forge was conceived as a place where the Ancient vampires sacrificed their enemies (and later themselves) by feeding their souls to the Elder God; with the various stone heads representing the Elder and the three hearts representing the lifeforms of Nosgoth - The Red heart (in the Dark chamber) represents flesh and the Material Realm, the Blue heart (in the neutral/material soul reaver chamber) represents Spectral entities and the Spectral Realm, and the Green heart (in the Light chamber) represents the Hylden and Demon Realm. Much like Moebius's Staff, the large snake sculpture in the Air Forge was acknowledged to disable the hearts of Vampires, enabling them to be extracted. SR2 Air Forge and Defiance Forges at DCabDesign (by The Hylden), post #3 (by Daniel Cabuco) *The murals in the three small heart rooms illustrate elements of the air forge puzzles and when they are activated, the spawning of hearts issue a stream of Blood which cover the murals - altered versions of the mural texture, covered in blood, are used after this point. rune symbols are also seen in many places throughout the forge and strange unidentified red crystals are also seen positioned in special holders on walls throughout the forge. *The exterior lake are below Janos Audron's Retreat only features passages leading west to the air forge in the Post-Blood Omen era, whilst in Nosgoth's early history the edge of the lake has a sheer cliff face. This difference perhaps suggests that the cliff was eroded away over time, but also implies that the forge was literally built in an isolated location protected by natural barriers (that may have been easily overcome to those gifted with flight). A collapsed and inaccessible area of the forge, found in the small dark path chamber leading to the red heart puzzle room, may suggest that the forge had an alternate entrance to the west. *Regardless of the order which Raziel completes the forge in, the first heart altar activated will display a cutscene showing Raziel's reaction to the released soul and his subsequent surprise as he is nearly drawn into the stone head then blown across the room by the Air updraft issued. The second and third altar activated display the same cutscene with Raziel anticipating the activation and quickly jumping down until the stone head has become inanimate again. A wrongly placed heart will cause the stone head to fire a beam at Raziel which dissolves his physical form, much like Sentry eyes. Unlike the cutscenes, in gameplay the air issued from the stone heads has no effect on Raziel and does not enhance his Gliding until he returns to the main core area. Gallery Murals and Textures SR2-Texture-Mural-AirForge1.png SR2-Texture-Mural-AirForge2.png SR2-Texture-AF-AncientReaver.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols7.png SR2-AirForge-TwoFaceMural.png SR2-Texture-AirForg-2FaceVamp.png SR2-Texture-AF-BigSnakeMouth.png SR2-Texture-Cracked-AFSurface.png SR2-Texture-AF-Blue-Mural.png SR2-Texture-AF-Red-Mural.png SR2-Texture-AF-Green-Mural.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols-dragon.png SR2-Texture-AF-Blue-Mural-Blood.png SR2-Texture-AF-Red-Mural-Blood.png SR2-Texture-AF-Green-Mural-Blood.png SR2-AirForge-Mural-CircleBlocks.png SR2-Texture-AF-Circle-Air-color.png SR2-Texture-AF-Darksymbolscircle.png SR2-Texture-AF-Circle-Air.png SR2-Texture-AF-Airsymbolscircle.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols6.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols5.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols4.png SR2-Texture-AF-symbols3.png Concepts and Bonus materials SR2-Environment-AirForgeConcept1.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeConcept2.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeConcept3.jpg SR2-Environment-AirForgeConcept4.jpg SR2-Environment-StoneDemonConcept.jpg File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-01.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-02.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-03.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-04.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-05.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-06.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-07.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-08.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-09.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-10.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). File:SR2-BonusMaterial-EnvironmentArt-AirForge-11.png|Bonus material art of the Air Forge (SR2). Appearances * Soul Reaver 2 See also *Chapter 6: The Air Forge *Red heart *Green heart *Blue heart *Air Reaver (SR2) * Soul Reaver 2 Bonus Material - The Reaver Forges at The Lost Worlds (by Ben Lincoln). References }} Category:Landmarks Category:Locations Category:Nosgoth Category:Soul Reaver 2 Category:Soul Reaver 2 areas Category:Soul Reaver 2 locations